Jailed Rights Defender Üstün: Solidarity Keeps Me Going

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Republican People’s Party (CHP) Ankara MP Aylin Nazlıaka has visited rights defender İlknur Üstün, who has been jailed in Sincan prison in Turkey's capital city of Ankara.

In her message delivered via Nazlıaka, Üstün said that she is both mentally and spiritually fine.

“These events are not normal”

Üstün’s message is as follows:

“These events are not normal. Considering them normal means to justify these. I will never accept these as normal. I am both mentally and spiritually fine and I will do my best to be fine.

“My life has passed with women’s rights defense and with women’s struggle for equality and freedom together with many women’s organizations and women from everywhere (parliament, municipalities, neighborhoods) …

 “Advocating women’s rights and human rights is vital for every individual. It is the greatest assurance for maintaining human rights and it is a condition to ensure that justice exists for everybody.

“All this solidarity keeps me going. I hope that this wrongdoing be fixed as soon as possible and I can meet with my loved ones”.

In her statement made following the meeting, Aylin Nazlıaka said that Üstün’s spirits were high.

What happened?

Nalan Erkem and Özlem Dalkıran (Helsinki Citizens Assembly), İlknur Üstün (Women's Coalition), İdil Eser (Human Rights Watch Director to Turkey) and Veli Acu (Human Rights Agenda Association), Günal Kurşun (Human Rights Agenda Association), Nejat Taştan (Association for Monitoring Equal Rights), Şeyhmuz Özbekli (Rights Initiative), Ali Garawi (human rights trainer), and Peter Steudtner (German citizen human rights trainer) were taken into custody during a training workshop in Büyükada, one of the Prince Islands in İstanbul.

On July 11, an additional seven days of detention was issued for the rights advocates.

On July 18, Eser, Dalkıran, Kurşun, Acu, Garawi and Steudtner were arrested. Erkem, Üstün, Taştan and Özbekli were released on probation and international travel ban was imposed on them.

Üstün, Erkem, Taştan and Özbekli were released on probation with travel.

On July 21, the prosecutor objected to the release of the four rights advocates and a detention warrant was issued for them. Being detained from their homes, Üstün and Erkem were arrested on July 23.

On July 25, Taştan and Özbekli were released on probation with travel ban. (AS/TK)